12 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



January 



Small Vs. Large Hives 



By E. F. Atwater. 



THE testimony of reliable and ex- 

 tensive producers, in some lo- 

 calities, indicates that commer- 

 cial extracted honey production may 

 be carried on successfully without 

 special manipulation for swarm con- 

 trol. 



Some say that if the flow is very 

 heavy there is so little swarming as 

 to make an effort at its control by 

 special manipulation unprofitable, 

 while others with light flows, long 

 continued or even intermittent, have 

 but little swarming. Fortunate pro- 

 ducers they. 



But in most localities, given strong 

 colonies, ready for the flow, and the 

 flow materializing, slow or rapid, 

 then the man who relies on the large 

 hive with abundant supers of empty 

 comb to prevent swarming, is likely 

 to lose heavily. 



In most localities it is unfortunate- 

 ly not true that bees with an abund- 

 ance of empty comb will not swarm, 

 in spite of Quinhy, Doolittle and Oa- 

 dant to the contrary. 



The writer was once talking with 

 a practical producer, than whom few 

 have traveled more widely among 

 the beekeepers oi many States, and 

 put the question, "Where have you 

 found commercial producers who 

 succeed in swarm prevention by the 

 use of large hives and abundant 

 empty combs, without special manip- 

 ulation or control?" 

 The answer was, "Nowhere." 

 Now, let us consider the spacing 

 of brood combs, and its influence on 

 swarm control or prevention. 



A hobby-riding craft, first we 

 swing one way, then the other, to the 

 great profit of the supply makers, 

 to the doubtful benefit of the bees, 

 and the usual detriment to our 

 pocketbooks. 



The writer has used 8-frame hives 

 by the hundreds, with no division 

 board, and for some years, 200 that 

 were 12^ inches wide inside, giving 

 real IJ/^-inch spacing, and so used, 

 excluder or no excluder, up to six 

 stories high, they tried to swarm, as 

 a rule. 



Then we have used many 10-frame 

 hives, as do many in central Califor- 

 nia, with only nine frames, again 

 giving full IJ/^-inch spacing, and note 

 no difference in the tendency to 

 swarm. 



We have seen both spacings used, 

 in many yards, in several States, and 

 cannot remember one producer who 

 was sure that the wider spacing had 

 any appreciable influence in swarm 

 prevention. 



If there were no standard spacing, 

 the writer might prefer the wider 

 spacing, but as there is a standard 

 where self-spaced frames are used 

 (and their use is becoming almost 

 universal) it seems that a change is 

 inadvisable, without proof based on 

 evidence that would be acceptable to 

 trained scientists, that the change is 

 really desirable. 



The Dadant hive, made for 11 

 frames, if the writer remembers cor- 



rectly, has not room for the 11 

 frames, spaced lyi inches from cen- 

 ter to center, and the extra space re- 

 quired on each side of the hive, 

 which cannot well be less than one- 

 quarter or one-half inch added to the 

 16J4 inches required by the 11 frames, 

 so the actual spacing is less than 1^ 

 inches from center to center, unless 

 a division board is used in place of 

 one comb somewhat thinner than a 

 comb, which would allow the frames 

 to be spaced a little wider apart. 



Now, in regard to hive size. Un- 

 questionably, in most localities, bees, 

 for best results, require large hives, 

 very large hives. 



Since the conclusive work done by 

 Dr. Phillips and Mr. Demuth, we 

 know that it is profitable and possi- 

 ble in many localities, to have 12 

 Langstroth frames full of brood be- 

 fore our flow. As space must always 

 be allowed during spring breeding 

 for extra stores, and ?s the 12 

 frames of brood cannot usually be 

 had without such stores, it is appar- 

 ent that a 9-frame Jumbo, as used by 

 A. C. Miller, is quite too small, in 

 many localities. 



The 11-frame Dadant hive is none 

 too large, so far as comb capacity is 

 concerned, and will produce, on the 

 average, more bees than can be had 

 with a large brood-nest in 2 stories. 



It is quite possible that the 11- 

 frame Dadant hive is too small, dur- 

 ing the spring breeding period. 



Where it is desirable to use a large 

 hive, with little or no spring "fuss- 

 ing," but abundant stores and large 

 breeding space, the 2-story, 10-frame 

 Langstroth is not easily excelled. 



Especially would this be the case 

 if really sufficient packing be used, 

 and left on as late as possible, so that 

 brood may be readily reared in both 

 stories, in spite of the waste space 

 oi bottom-bars, beespace and top- 

 bars, between the two stories. 



Again, not only is the 10-frame hive 

 becoming a real standard, but in the 

 hands of the average man its combs 

 are more likely to be free from sag, 

 and so suitable for worker brood, 

 than any deeper frames. 



The deeper frame must have more 

 wires, or one vertical wire, or sag 

 renders many cells unsuitable for 

 worker brood. Where queen exclud- 

 ers are used it is the writer's obser- 

 vation that they are no material hin- 

 drance, if very near the brood; in 

 other words, if the capacity of the 

 brood nest, during the flow, is such 

 that the queen keeps it well filled 

 with brood, but if the capacity of the 

 brood nest is such as to leave room 

 for much honey, after the queen has 

 reached her peak of laying, then the 

 excluder is a more marked hindrance. 

 Where Jumbo or Dadant brood nests 

 are adopted by users of the Lang- 

 stroth frames, these frames will in 

 most cases be used as supers, and the 

 queen will too often go above, unless 

 kept below by an excluder. 



With the 6-inch combs, used by the 

 Dadants, we know that the excluder 

 may be quite well dispensed with. 



The writer had hoped for much 

 from the large, single-story brood- 

 nests, but when men like J. L. Byer 

 and F. Greiner state that they get 

 identical, or nearly identical, results 

 in honey from other hives, a change 

 may be inadvisable. 



Unquestionably, if a large, single- 

 story brood nest can be used, up to 

 the flow, without too much sacrifice 

 of valuable points, a great saving of 

 labor will result. 



The writer is not opposed to the 

 use of large hives, and for years past 

 has wintered on IS to 20 frames of 

 standard size, but only wishes to 

 point out some of the points to be 

 considered, and warn against exten- 

 sive, too extensive, changes until 



H. C. Cook's fireproof storage house for combs in the City of Omaha. 



